SIR,—There is urgent need for a more enlightened public opinion
on the problem of the juvenile criminal. Letters of the type written by Mr. A. B. _Morley in the Spectator (November 7th) clearly reveal this need. To suggest physical retaliation is no answer. Juvenile criminality reflects badly our vaunted social advancement, and its causes are deep-rooted and intricate. They may stem from any or all of three major factors.
Firstly there are what may be called social causes. There are still far too many poor, overcrowded houses, which cannot provide a home in any real sense of the word. For a variety of reasons many parents are not fit to have care of children. Education is still far from adequate, as anyone with experience of the Services knows, and will continue to be inadequate until the teaching profession is granted proper recognition. ,
Secondly there are physical causes. It Is a well-known fact that there is an important relationship between undernourishment and the incidence of crime. Perhaps it is not so well-known that, in spite of an outward appearance of well-being, many people in this country today are undernourished. Even the most honest person now boasts dishonesty in something, and tempers are more liable to be frayed.
Thirdly, and perhaps most important of all, there are the psychological causes. The small person, the unwanted person, the unloved person are tragedies which have not been overcome with social advancement. While it is doubtful whether criminal tendencies are directly inherited, they are often derived from a criminal environment. It will be long, if ever, before all these causes are overcome individually. Meanwhile, what is being done to solve the problem raised by these interwoven factors—the problem of the juvenile delinquent ? The efforts of many benevolent missions, societies and individual people in running hostels and clubs are praiseworthy. Their efforts are however, unco-ordinated, and only go a small way toward answering the question. Religion has no place, and rarely finds a foot- hold in the hearts of these disillusioned young people. Prevention of juvenile crime can best be effected by removing the causes enumerated above.
Those who speak of Approved Schools and Borstal Institutes as comfortable can have no idea of the hard, though healthy, life in these places. They do magnificent work; more than seventy-five per cent, of juvenile offenders discharged are never heard of again. They fail in their task for two reasons. One is the need for an enlightened public opinion. The social stigma attached to an ex-Borstal boy is so terrible that he is treated as though he were not human—at the very time when he wants to be loved and valued. This requires elementary Christianity. The second reason for their failure is their inability to teach the young offender a trade. They have not at present sufficient accommodation, staff, time or money for this, and conse- quently much good work is undone when the ex-Borstal boy fails to find suitable employment. Too many employers still avoid their res- ponsibility to give these young offenders employment and encourage them to become good citizens.
Finally, the birch. Britain has been one of the last civilised countries to abolish its use. The infliction of bodily pain is in essence sadistic, and the passing of the birch is a good thing. There is no undisputed evidence that its passing heralded an increase in crimes with violence.
—Yours faithfully, R. J. LORIMER. Fitzwilliam House, University of Cambridge.
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